This invention relates in general to communications and more particularly to a system and method for measuring and reporting on user reactions to particular web pages of a website.
Many website owners desire information concerning usage of their websites. For example, an Internet website owner might use a third party service to track the number of users that visit its website, the number of xe2x80x9cclicksxe2x80x9d these users collectively perform (using their mouse pointers) while visiting the website, and how long these users stay at the website. Using this objective information, the website owner may determine that its website is not attracting a sufficient number of users or has been ineffective at keeping the interest of users once they arrive. The website owner may react accordingly to improve its websites and, possibly, the success of its associated business operations.
Previous techniques for obtaining information concerning usage of websites often do not provide website owners with information about how users subjectively react to their websites, making the information of minimal value. Prior techniques that do solicit subjective user reactions do so with respect to transactions carried out using the website, but not with respect to the website itself. These techniques give website owners little if any information concerning subjective reactions of users to particular pages of their websites. Moreover, website owners are given little if any information about how users experience their websites as the users navigate through them, moving from page to page according to the topography of the websites. Even techniques that request users to provide subjective reactions concerning transactions may be relatively difficult to use, obtrusive, unstandardized, or otherwise deficient in some manner that causes them to be seldom used and therefore ineffective. The information reported to website owners may also be ineffective due to the format in which it is provided, for example, in reports that are difficult to interpret and do not allow useful comparisons to be made. These and other disadvantages make prior techniques inadequate for many website owners.
According to the present invention, the problems and disadvantages associated with previous techniques for receiving user feedback concerning websites have been substantially reduced or eliminated.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for measuring a user reaction to a particular web page of a website includes a viewable icon that solicits a subjective reaction to the particular page from a user that has accessed the particular page. The system also includes software associated with the icon that receives the subjective user reaction for reporting to a website owner. In a particular embodiment, the software associated with the icon is incorporated into software of the particular page. In an even more particular embodiment, the software associated with the icon includes a call to a directory containing a script that receives the user reaction.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of incorporating user reaction measurement software into a particular web page of a website includes receiving an icon selection from a website owner specifying a viewable icon to appear on the particular page. The icon has associated user reaction measurement software that includes a call to a directory that contains a script. The icon is incorporated into the particular page and the directory with the script is generated for communication together with the particular page. The call is also incorporated into software of the particular page such that the user reaction measurement software is able to receive a subjective user reaction to the particular page, using the script, from a website user that has accessed the particular page.
The present invention provides a number of important technical advantages over prior techniques. The present invention measures subjective user reactions to particular pages of websites using measurement software that is readily identifiable (according to the associated icon), easy to use, and unobtrusive. For example, the user need not separately download any software and open a new window on the user""s browser. As a result, not only may very valuable information be readily compiledxe2x80x94subjective reactions to particular pages, along with other appropriate data that may be correlated to the subjective reactionsxe2x80x94but it is likely that many users will actually provide this information so that it may actually be compiled. This stands in sharp contrast to previous techniques. In addition, the website owner may relatively easily incorporate the measurement software into one or more new or existing pages of the website, rather than assuming the cost and delay often associated with rewriting software code of these pages. These and other advantages may contribute to this measurement software (and associated icon) becoming a standard across the entire community of Internet users.
The reports provided to the website owner, in addition to containing a wealth of previously unavailable information concerning the particular pages of the website, may be readily interpreted and allow useful comparisons to be made between these particular pages. Moreover, the present invention allows a website owner to access reports concerning the subjective user reactions in much the same way a user might navigate from one page to another within a website, according to the topography of the website. This may give the website owner additional valuable information upon which to base decisions concerning website. These and other advantages make the system and method of the present invention well suited for used in modem Internet and other environments in which users access websites. Other technical advantages are readily apparent to those skilled in the art.